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Rodgers: ‘I want to stay for 1,000 matches’

Steady on, old thing. Brendan Rodgers might be under serious pressure at Liverpool, but he has come out in the only manner he knows how – optimism.

There have been media reports linking Carlo Ancelotti, Jurgen Klopp and Walter Mazzarri with the Liverpool job, with the club thought to be losing patience with the under-performing Rodgers.

Rodgers is also now the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job, ahead even of Dick Advocaat. Personally I’d be piling on the Dutchman in that race, but there you go.

Yet the manager himself insists he will never quit as Liverpool boss, and indicated an ambition to stay for 1,000 matches. By way of comparison, Brian Clough only reached 907 matches during his entire tenure at Nottingham Forest, while Arsene Wenger is currently at 1,075 matches. Rodgers is currently on 163.

“No, no. No chance [of Rodgers resigning]. No. I want to be a manager and the target in my own mind is to get to 1,000 games. I’m never going to walk away because I’ll always have belief that I can improve players and make things better.”

“What I’ll always do is give my best to the club and if they decide they need to change, I’ll totally respect that. Because this is an incredible football club and all I want to do is see it succeed. If it isn’t with me, that’ll be for other people to decide.

“I know I’ve given everything. I’ll walk away and hopefully I’ll get into another job where I’ll get the chance to create something special. But my focus is still very much on the now and making us the best we possibly can be. Hopefully that will see me here for a longer period.”